STOCKTON — A sex-abuse lawsuit filed against University of the Pacific and a retired research librarian cleared a hurdle Friday morning, and the university suffered a setback, when a judge ruled that a student’s civil case was filed in a timely manner, contrary to an assertion by Pacific's lawyers.

San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Michael Mulvihill also ruled that the allegations made by plaintiff Amit Lal are “sufficient to constitute a cause of action … the demurrer is overruled.”

Attorneys for Pacific filed the demurrer in March in response to a 17-page complaint filed by Lal in December. Lal, 35, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Pacific and works at the Eberhardt School of Business. He is currently seeking a doctoral degree in education from Pacific.

Lal’s lawsuit against Pacific and retired research librarian Craig Hawbaker alleges the university knew about Hawbaker’s alleged abuse of Lal for two years before it opened an investigation.

According to the complaint filed by Lodi attorney Kevin Berreth, the abuse began in 2013 and continued until 2017 — two years after Lal says he first complained to the university and three years after Hawbaker’s retirement.

The suit says Lal held a campus job in Pacific’s library, and Hawbaker was his supervisor. Lal informed university officials of Hawbaker’s alleged abuse in 2015, the suit says, but Pacific did not conduct an investigation until 2017.

Lal finally received a report on the investigation last June, the lawsuit says. According to the lawsuit, the confidential report by Pacific says Hawbaker “admitted to three of the claimed unwanted acts.”

The report, according to the lawsuit, concluded “it is more likely than not that Professor Hawbaker did engage in additional unwanted touching and/or advances beyond those he admitted.” Lal never filed a report with the university police or any law enforcement agency, his attorney said.

Pacific’s attorneys say the university did not learn of Lal’s allegations until 2017 “and promptly performed a thorough investigation.”

They say that Hawbaker retired in 2014 and afterward “had absolutely no contact with plaintiff for a three-year period.” And they say that after Hawbaker’s retirement, he had “no role or responsibilities with Pacific.”

Lal’s suit alleges he was a victim of “sexual harassment, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress” at the hands of Hawbaker, most of it from 2013 to May 2014, when Hawbaker retired. But it says Hawbaker continued to frequent the Pacific campus after retiring, and continued his alleged troubling behavior toward Lal.

The university says help is available for victims of the type of abuse Lal says he suffered.

“Members of the Pacific community who experienced sexual misconduct, or are aware of someone else who has experienced sexual misconduct, are urged to seek help,” a statement said. Resources and support for members of the Pacific community are available at https://bit.ly/2FvfMQF.

The parties are scheduled for a court conference June 14. Berreth has said if the case goes to trial, he will seek a judgment in the “$4 million range, including punitive damages.” The attorney previously has said he believes a settlement is possible.